The Cincinnati Red Stockings formed as the first professional baseball team in 1869. Over the past 145 years, baseball has established itself as the national pastime, and in 2014, 30 teams will battle for the World Series crown. Grab your mini baseball bat and travel back in time with 28 photos that capture the sport's storied history.

Good luck to [fill in your favorite team]. And for Cubs fans, there's always next year.

Vintage Baseball

Harry Wolter of the American League's Boston baseball team, holding a small dog on a bench at South Side Park, Chicago, 1909.

Image: Chicago History Museum/Getty Images

Babe Ruth batting in 1926.

Image: NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images

Jackie Robinson, foreground, and the Brooklyn Dodgers at spring training in March of 1947 in Havana, Cuba.

Image: Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

Charlie Lau, left, and Russ Snyder of the Baltimore Orioles celebrate clinching the American League pennant in the clubhouse after a game on Sept. 22, 1966 against the Kansas City A's at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City, Mo.

Image: John Vawter Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images

Pat Donahue of the American League's Boston baseball team stands behind home plate at South Side Park, Chicago, 1909.

Image: Chicago History Museum/Getty Images

Ted Williams appears elongated, as he poses for a comical photo in Fenway Park in Boston, 1941.

Image: Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

A long line forms for World Series tickets at Yankee Stadium circa 1940s in New York City.

Image: John Kanuit Photography/Sports Studio Photos/Getty Images

The St. Louis Browns of the American Association pose for a portrait in their home town in 1883.

Image: Mark Rucker/Getty Images

Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers celebrates after the final out of Game One of the 1952 World Series on Oct. 1, 1952 at Ebbets Field in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Image: Sporting News/Getty Images

Tony Lazzeri, Lefty Gomez and Joe DiMaggio of the New York Yankees, celebrate their World Series victory of the NY Giants in the clubhouse at the Polo Grounds in New York City on Oct. 10, 1937.

Image: Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees slides to home base.

Image: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB Photos/Getty Images

Spectators cheer at Sportsman's Park during Game Six of the World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Boston Red Sox, St. Louis, Mo., Oct. 13, 1946.

Image: APA/Getty Images

Carlos Colas, on the shoulders of the fans, celebrates an important but unknown Latin American baseball tournament around 1940.

Image: Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

The umpire calls Babe Ruth safe as he slides into home plate on a baseball barnstorming tour, mid-1920s.

Image: Underwood Archives/Getty Images

Bobby Brown of the Yankees has just driven a ball to right field and runs out a triple in the Game Four of the 1949 World Series.

Image: Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

The New York Mets play the St. Louis Cardinals in New York.

Image: Frank Hurley/NY Daily News Archive/Getty Images

A number of baseball fans climb the netting to retrieve a foul ball, causing a stoppage of play in a game between the Philadelphia Athletics and the Cleveland Indians at Shibe Park, Philadelphia, Pa., May 6, 1948.

Image: Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images

First baseman Hank Greenberg, outfielder Goose Goslin, second baseman Charlie Gehringer and rightfielder Pete Fox of the Detroit Tigers hold baseball bats in the visiting team's dugout at Fenway Park during a game against the Boston Red Sox, Boston, Sept. 19, 1935.

Image: FPG/Getty Images

Willie Mays of the Giants heads for first base after hitting the ball during a home game.

Image: Robert Riger Collection/Getty Images

Jackie Robinson slides to home plate to avoid the tag during a season game.

Image: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB Photos/Getty Images

Honus Wagner of the Pittsburgh Pirates picks a bat during a season game.

Image: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB Photos/Getty Images

Mickey Mantle is caught in a rundown in a pre-season game vs. the San Francisco Seals on March 25, 1952 at San Francisco.

Image: Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

Babe Ruth, just traded from the Red Sox over the winter, sits in the New York Yankees spring training dugout in Jacksonville, Fla.

Image: Photo Mark Rucker/Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images

Willie Mays, #24, of the New York Giants is greeted by teammates as he runs over home plate during a season game.

Image: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library/MLB Photos/Getty Images

New York Yankees Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio photographed during spring training drills.

Image: William Greene/Sports Studio Photos/Getty Images

Teammates and fans applaud and reach out the shake the hand of American baseball player Willie Mays of the New York Giants after a home run in the 1950s.

Image: Bruce Bennett Studios/Getty Images

American baseball players Vern Stephens and Bobby Doerr of the Boston Red Sox watch as Yogi Berra of the New York Yankees is led beneath them in the dust at second base during the final game of the season, Oct. 2, 1949.

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